Laminar mixed convection in an eccentric annular horizontal duct for a thermodependent non-Newtonian fluid

TL;DR

This study investigates how eccentricity, rheological behavior, and temperature-dependent properties influence mixed convection and thermal stratification in a heated eccentric annular duct with shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluid.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of eccentricity and thermorheological properties on flow organization and thermal stratification in non-Newtonian fluid convection.

Findings

Eccentricity significantly affects thermal stratification.

Downward eccentricity can reduce thermal stratification.

Flow and thermal patterns depend on rheological and thermal properties.

Abstract

The present work focuses on the study of mixed convection of a purely viscous shear-thinning fluid in a horizontal annular eccentric duct. The inner and outer cylinders are heated with constant and uniform heat flux densities. The objective of this work is to study the effect of the variation of eccentricity, rheological behavior of the fluid as well as the thermodependency of the rheological parameters on the reorganization of the flow and thermal stratification caused by the buoyancy forces. At the entrance of the heating zone, the dynamic regime is assumed to be established and the temperature profile uniform. The conservation equations are solved numerically using a finite difference method with implicit schemes. A secondary azimuthal flow, induced by natural convection, develops downstream of the inlet section. This flow creates a stratification of the thermal field on a given section of the duct, which intensifies downstream from the entrance. On the other hand, the decrease in consistency with increasing temperature near the heated walls produces a centrifugal radial flow towards the walls. The presence of an eccentricity induces in turn a significant effect on the main dynamic field and the stratification of the thermal field. Two cases of upward and downward eccentricity are treated. These show that an upward shift increases the stratification of the thermal field, while the stratification begins to weaken from a certain amount of eccentricity in the case of downward shift. This represents an important result in terms of possible industrial applications. We may indeed conclude that an appropriate choice of downward eccentricity can reduce the thermal stratification, observed experimentally in the case of a concentric heated annular duct [1], when this stratification is undesirable. The choice of this eccentricity depends on rheological and thermal properties of the fluid.